Mega Thread: 12 Hours of Conference Tournament Action (March 10, 2021)

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This morning I woke up on a mission. You can probably sense where this is going if you’re familiar with Slackie Brown or Virginia Gameday or if you simply read the headline: College hoops all day. All my favorite conferences — ACC, Big East, Big Ten — plus the rest of the power conferences running at the same time with every single time slot filled. Because it’s the lower seeds, it doesn’t have the firepower of a March Madness Thursday or Friday but there are definitely more Power-5 vs. Power-5 matchups. It’s unique and after missing out on the full effect last year, I’m 100-percent drinking it in today. Some of the times below are totally made up/best guess. Had a shot and a beer around halftime of the Cuse game and stopped keeping track for awhile. 

7:10am: Woke up and had the usual — dog food, water, and a walk for my dog (hi, Shea); coffee and Packer & Durham for me.

7:30am: Considering the 2.5-hour drive to Greensboro for the early session. Cuse-NC State & Miami-Clemson. Tickets are only $35 and it’s like 70 degrees out.

7:40am: Nevermind, I have no friends in Charlottesville.

9:00am: Left the castle to go into Charlottesville for a newspaper and another coffee. Popped over to Mincer’s for a new shirt, seeing as Virginia is about to start their march to another natty tomorrow. Tried to find something on the outside clearance rack — if you know, you know — but settled on this retro-looking, long-sleeve 2019 national championship shirt I’ve had my eye on. Changed into it before I got home. Gotta get your money’s worth, ya dig.

11:00am: Texting with some friends from Upstate NY, where I grew up and went to school. Told them I thought it was a bad matchup for Cuse and that Joe Girard would get eaten up.

11:15am: Still took Cuse on the moneyline, and the under. Have family up there still and that’s where you went for legit college hoops growing up. I’m all Wahoo-Wa now but I pull for the Orange when I can. The winner also plays UVA, so that’s something. Cuse is probably a better matchup for the Wahoos. Can’t get NC State beating that ass a few weeks ago out of my head.

11:30am: Got home just in time for the Cuse-NC State game after the ole ball and chain asked me to grab lunch. Jimmy John’s on Pantops is legitimately freaky fast.

12:00pm: Reading the newspaper on the screen porch. They were out of The Daily Progress so I got the Richmond Times-Dispatch, which always has legit college hoops coverage, especially ACC. David Teel has the best job around by the way. Legend.

12:30pm: It’s not too early for a shot and a beer. Even if it was, it’s a holiday. Corona Light, Jim Beam neat.

12:45pm: Buddy Boeheim is ballin’ and this is my favorite Cuse squad in a while. The starting five is a likeable and very talented offensive unit. Every coach would take Quincy Guerrier. Defensively they’re not great. Girard is inconsistent but he’s not playing poorly today. Was wrong about him getting eaten up by Wolfpack guards.

1:00pm: 20 in the first half for Buddy.

1:30pm: Jimmy Boeheim needs to transfer to Cuse from Cornell. He’s got some eligibility left. Ivy League didn’t play this year and that pissed Papa Boeheim off. I heard him mention it in a few interviews. Whenever he could bring it up, he would.

1:45pm: Buddy has 27 points. He’s been RED HOT from deep — 6-for-9.

1:50pm: They tried to get him to 30…and failed. He missed three consecutive threes and is heading to the bench to rest for the Hoos tomorrow. Makes his 6-for-9 look a little uglier at 6-for-12…but he was super impressive today. 

Cuse 89, NC State 68

2:00pm: Buddy talking in his postgame presser next to Papa Boeheim. Buddy is a G, and I’m here for it. Papa is an OG, and he doesn’t care if I’m here for it or not.

2:05pm: My two favorite ACC teams are playing at noon tomorrow. I’ll be watching it on my phone at my sales job, unfortunately. Oh yeah, won my Cuse ML bet, lost the under.

2:10pm: Texting my friend who went to Cuse. Gonna see if he wants to bet a stick on the game tomorrow. We’ll see.

2:12pm: I want to see Carlos Boozer’s beard up close. It looks too perfect. And he’s already suspect after the painted head thing.

2:15pm: Bout time for this Clemson-Miami game. Was hoping for Clemson-Pitt when the bracket was released but Justin Champagnie disappeared and they earned it. Orange on orange.

2:20pm: Luke Hancock just picked Miami to win straight-up. Shoutout George Mason family! I’m taking the points so we’re kind of in the same boat. Canes hoping for 3 wins in a row. They beat Purdue and Duke earlier this year but they’re shorthanded these days.

2:35pm: Love seeing Nick Honor out there for Clemson. Was covering George Mason during his freshman year at Fordham. No lie, he was the most impressive visiting player I saw in person.

2:40pm: How about walk-on Willie Herenton ending his career in the Canes’ rotation? Played more meaningful minutes in the last three games than the rest of his career. For real, look it up.

2:45pm: Aamir Simms from Palmyra, VA, which is basically Charlottesville, VA. Didn’t know that.

2:50pm: My man Alex Hemenway, the masked man, just got crossed up pretty hard by Isaiah Wong.

2:55pm: Nysier Brooks meal looks awesome. Not just saying that either. Snack time.

3:00pm: Time for the first game of the Big East Tourney. Second TV is now on. Have four TVs in the basement; we’ll get there eventually.

3:15pm-5:00pm: Oops, I fell asleep. Woke up for the very end of the Miami game. Go Canes. Basically missed the entire Georgetown-Marquette game. Early shot and beer (maybe x2) got me.

Miami 67, Clemson 64

Georgetown 68, Marquette 49

5:15pm: Canes are the first #13 seed to go to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.

5:30pm-6:00pm: Dinner. Hot dogs and baked beans. Can’t beat a classic.

6:15pm: It is awesome seeing Rick Pitino stalking sidelines again.

6:29pm: Duke – Louisville about to tip-off. We’re hitting the peak basketball hours here. So. Many. Games.

7:00pm: Pitino and the Gaels up 46-42 right now. Survive and advance, Rick.

Iona 55, Siena 52

7:40pm: Currently watching Scottie Pippen Jr. on one TV and Jamal Mashburn Jr. on another.

7:43pm: Carlik Jones shoots a lot. Varying degrees of success.

7:52pm: Going to shoot some pool and get a better view of all the TVs at one time. We’re in a four-at-one-time mode right now. Duke-Louisville, TCU-Kansas State, Minnesota-Northwestern, Vanderbilt-Texas A&M.

7:59pm: What?!? How is Butler-Xavier in OT? They were getting smoked. They, as in Butler.

8:01pm: This game is really exciting. MSG energy is just different.

8:03pm: Pippen Jr. making some plays for Vandy.

8:06pm: COLD-BLOODED three-ball by Chuck Harris to put Butler up 68-67 with 30 seconds left.

8:12pm: Look away for one second (pool shots) and the Bulldogs are down 69-68. Not sure what happened but I’m definitely rooting for the upset at this point.

8:13pm: OK. tied 69-69 again. Taking a break from pool game. Wait, another made free throw. Butler up 70-69.

8:15pm: It’s final. They pulled the upset!

Butler 70, Xavier 69

8:20pm: Ran upstairs to make a coffee.

8:35pm: Just got back, Duke finished off Louisville. They were rolling pretty much all game. Mark Williams is gonna be a good pro one day, and I interviewed Jeremy Roach for a newspaper feature once. Cashed my Duke ticket, missed my over.

8:40pm: Northwestern was down, then came back with a big run, then lost after the Gophers scored the final 12 points of the game. ‘Cats were stuck at 46 points for the final 4:20 and didn’t have a single player in double figures. Pete Nance, brother of Larry Nance Jr., had eight.

Minnesota 51, Northwestern 46

Duke 70, Louisville 56

8:40pm: Put a $20 spot on DePaul/Providence over. Also like Penn State ML.

8:52pm: Syracuse is now the last team in the tournament, per Joe Lunardi. Xavier losing choking was big for them.

9:12pm: OK, we got a tip-off in the ND-UNC game. Providence-DePaul over not looking great but I have a feeling about this one.

Vanderbilt 79, Texas A&M

9:18pm: This game gives me classic Big East feels. Really started following/betting when the league had 16 teams in the late 2000s. We always would take the dog no matter what if it was 10 or more. DePaul was always getting a ton of points back then. They’re also the lowest seed this year. I’d say some things don’t change but they actually were pretty decent for a few years there.

9:22pm: Speaking of DePaul…Iowa State is about to tip-off. If you don’t get the connection, it’s Jalen Coleman-Lands, who means many things to many different college basketball fans. He played multiple years in the Big Ten with Illinois, multiple years in the Big East with DePaul, and now he’s wrapping up his career in the Big 12 with Iowa State. He’s arguably their best player, but they’re 2-21 without a conference or KenPom Top 300 win. Seriously, they only beat No. 353 Arkansas Pine Bluff and No. 324 Jackson State.

9:25pm: Speaking of DePaul again. One of their best players, Charlie Moore, went from the Pac-12 with Cal to the Big 12 with Kansas to the Big East with his current squad. I always find it interesting when dudes pull the double transfer.

9:40pm: Charlie Moore has such a pretty jumper.

10:00pm: Providence 36, DePaul 35 at halftime. Feel good about this O135.

10:10pm: I want Bill Raftery to announce all my college basketball games. That said, I have to turn some of my attention over to the UNC-ND game.

10:24pm: Tar Heels up double digits. How this ND team beat FSU is beyond me.

10:31pm: Spent a random five minutes on Lamar vs. Houston Baptist. Why, you ask? Darius Lee. He transferred to HBU from SUNY Sullivan, an NJCAA D-III basketball powerhouse and also my alma mater.

10:41pm: Tar Heels up 26 points — 73-47.

10:42pm: Having a hard time finding these Pac-12 games.

10:44pm: OK, I can’t watch them.

10:45pm: Flipped Penn State on. Thankful they came back. All tied up 47-47. Took ’em on the moneyline…expensive, though (-260).

11:01pm: No. 11 DePaul up 64-56 over No. 6 Providence with 2:20 remaining. No. 11 Penn State up 59-57 on No. 14 Nebraska. Tar Heels officially up 50 on the Irish. Also, this UTEP-FAU game on my 4th TV is pretty good. Shoutout Conference USA.

North Carolina 101, Notre Dame 59

11:04pm: Tar Heels win over ND is second biggest in ACC Tournament history, per FOX.

11:05pm: DePaul about to really pull the upset.

11:08pm: Anyone else really like these “Just Us ___” Nike shirts? They had the Virginia one at Mincer’s — might have to double back one of these days.

11:10pm: Ed Cooley just dipped from the court before his team and without shaking Dave Leitao‘s hand. Leitao was the head coach at UVA for a few years. I know the family that moved into his old house. DePaul wins. Real disappointing end for the Friars.

DePaul 70, Providence 62

11:13pm: 21 points for my boy Charlie Moore.

11:15pm: Turning out to be a real good one between State and Nebraska. Some big plays down the stretch from Izaiah Brockington, who transferred from St. Bonaventure to PSU.

11:18pm: Ever notice that each Power-5 conference claims to have the best conference tournament? I’ve heard ACC, Big Ten, and Big East people claim that today. I like them all equally, just saying.

11:20pm: That should do it. Nittany Lions will advance.

11:22pm: Gonna break about even for the day betting-wise. Lots of splitting today. Win the pick, lose the total, or vice versa.

Penn State 72, Nebraska 66

11:24pm: OK, now I’m on to Iowa State-Oklahoma — the last major game on since the Pac-12 Network is the worst and the only game today that featured a ranked team (No. 25 Oklahoma).

11:25pm: Looks like Boomer Sooner is going to advance. Was hoping the Cyclones could get a dub here.

Oklahoma 79, Iowa State 73

11:38pm: FAU took down the Miners so that looks like the end for me. Gonna watch some postgame or watch the Rudy Gobert E:60. Not big on the NBA this year but that’s a great story. This was fun (and a lot of work). Definitely gonna do it again, though.

Game Tally:

Syracuse vs. NC State (12:00pm, ACC)
Miami vs. Clemson (2:30pm, ACC)
Georgetown vs. Marquette (3:00pm, Big East)
Iona vs. Siena (5:00pm, MAAC)
Butler vs. Xavier (6:00pm, Big East)
Duke vs. Louisville (6:30pm, ACC)
Minnesota vs. Northwestern (6:30pm, Big Ten)
Kansas State vs. TCU (6:30pm, Big 12)
Charlotte vs. UTSA (6:30pm, C-USA)
Vanderbilt vs. Texas A&M (7:00pm, SEC)
Notre Dame vs. North Carolina (9:00pm, ACC)
Penn State vs. Nebraska (9:00pm, Big Ten)
DePaul vs. Providence (9:00pm, Big East)
Iowa State vs. Oklahoma (9:30pm, Big 12)
UTEP vs. FAU (9:30pm, C-USA)